Murray Jr., Rider visit Niagara

Published Jan. 6, 2021 5:30 p.m. ET

Associated Press

Rider (2-7, 2-4) vs. Niagara (4-4, 3-3)

Gallagher Center, Niagara, New York; Friday, 4 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Two junior guards will be on display as Dwight Murray Jr. and Rider will face Marcus Hammond and Niagara. Murray has scored 20 percent of the team's points this season and is averaging 10.2 over his last five games. Hammond is averaging 18.4 points over the last five games.

STEPPING UP: Niagara's Hammond has averaged 15.3 points and 5.9 rebounds while Kobi Nwandu has put up 12.1 points and 4.3 rebounds. For the Broncs, Murray has averaged 13.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists while Rodney Henderson Jr. has put up 9.8 points.

STEPPING IT UP: The Purple Eagles have scored 66.5 points per game and allowed 61.7 points per game in conference play thus far. Those are both substantial improvements over the 65.7 points scored and 70 points allowed per game to non-conference opponents.DOMINANT DWIGHT: Murray has connected on 34.8 percent of the 23 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 2 of 7 over the last three games. He's also made 85.3 percent of his free throws this season.

SLIPPING AT 70: Rider is 0-7 when it allows at least 70 points and 2-0 when it holds opponents to less than 70.

ASSIST RATIOS: The Purple Eagles have recently gotten buckets via assists more often than the Broncs. Niagara has 32 assists on 72 field goals (44.4 percent) across its previous three games while Rider has assists on 30 of 75 field goals (40 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: Niagara has committed a turnover on just 16.3 percent of its possessions this season, which is the second-best percentage among all MAAC teams. The Purple Eagles have turned the ball over only 10.6 times per game this season and just 7.8 times per game over their last five games.

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